The coroner’s office has called a combined inquest into three such deaths: that of Eligon, Reyal Jardine-Douglas, 25, and Sylvia Klibingaitis, 52. However, no date has been announced.

Perhaps the most notable inquest into a similar case was that probing the death of Edmond Yu, who was shot and killed in 1997 while threatening officers with a hammer on a TTC bus.

Responding to recommendations from the Yu inquest and others, the Toronto Police Service has slowly been creating Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams, two-person teams that include a plainclothes officer and a psychiatric nurse.

There are limitations to these teams: They’re available in some but not all police divisions. They work daytime hours (no later than 9 p.m. — too late to have been called to Saturday’s shooting). And police say they’re not equipped to respond to immediate threats of violence.

Jardine-Douglas
died on Aug. 29, 2010, when he fled a bus after it was pulled over by police. After his death, his family said the Pickering man suffered from mental illness, including paranoia. A knife was recovered at the scene.

Byron Debassige

On Feb. 16, 2008,
Byron Debassige
, a 28-year-old who suffered from schizophrenia, stumbled into a Yonge St. market and tried to steal lemons. He pulled a knife on the store clerk and then made a dash for nearby Oriole Park. Two officers arrived and began questioning Debassige, who pulled out an eight-centimetre (three-inch) blade from his pocket and pointed it at them. He refused to drop the knife and moved toward the officers. They shot five times, striking him in the chest.

O’Brien Christopher-Reid

In June 2004, Christopher-Reid, 26, was shot four times by police after allegedly lunging at an officer with a knife. He suffered from profound delusions. An inquest recommended police training include more communication techniques.

Otto Vass

On Aug. 9, 2000,
the 55-year-old man
was shot dead after he struggled with police officers outside a west-end 7-Eleven.

Tony Andrade

On May 13, 1997, Andrade, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, was shot after he came at police with a board. The Crown withdrew a charge of assault against an officer.

Edmond Yu

In February 1997,
Edmond Yu,
35, was shot and killed while threatening officers with a hammer on a TTC bus. He had struggled with schizophrenia and been in and out of hospitals for more than a decade.

Wayne Williams

On June 11, 1996, the 24-year-old man who suffered from schizophrenia was gunned down by police in Scarborough, allegedly after threatening them with a knife. The inquest recommended a mandatory mental health refresher course for all officers.

Lester Donaldson

On Aug. 9, 1988, the mentally unstable man was shot dead after waving a knife at an officer. An inquest resulted in 37 recommendations, including the use of pepper spray, education in policing in a multiracial society (Donaldson was black), and a more formal liaison with psychiatric facilities.